Spice guide
How Spicy Is The Wicked King?
Short answer: The Wicked King is 1/5 — Sweet — on the milder side.
Kissing and tension; any sex fades to black.
In The Wicked King: A step warmer than Book 1 — one intimate scene between Jude and Cardan is briefly but meaningfully on-page before cutting away, still very much YA-restrained. The heat comes overwhelmingly from power play, manipulation, and charged hostility rather than physical content.
What readers think
Readers broadly regard The Wicked King as a rare second instalment that outpaces its predecessor, with Kirkus calling it 'a heady blend of courtly double-crossing, Faerie lore, and toxic attraction' and Goodreads voters awarding it Best YA Fantasy of 2019. The escalating stakes, sharper political scheming, and Jude's ruthless competence earn near-universal praise, and the gut-punch ending is divisive only in the sense that it leaves readers desperate for Book 3. Common criticisms include a slower first half weighted toward court maneuvering over action, some inconsistencies in worldbuilding (merfolk biology, poison-immunity continuity), and frustration that Cardan shows little growth through much of the novel. A vocal minority of readers also wanted more on-page romantic payoff, finding the chemistry simmering but never boiling. Overall ratings cluster at 4–4.5 stars.
How it compares
- The Wicked King is milder than Fourth Wing3/5
- The Wicked King is milder than A Court of Thorns and Roses2/5
- The Wicked King is about as spicy as Twilight1/5
What you’re getting
- Spice
- 1/5
- POV
- first
- Ending
- HEA / HFN
- Score
- 81.7
Content warnings: Violence, Death, Abuse, Graphic violence, Blood, Gore, Major character death, Torture, Child abuse, Kidnapping, Addiction / substance abuse, Suicide, Self-harm, Grief & loss, War.
Is The Wicked King spicy? Your questions
Is The Wicked King spicy?
The Wicked King is spice level 1 out of 5 — Sweet. Kissing and tension; any sex fades to black.
How explicit do the spicy scenes in The Wicked King get?
A step warmer than Book 1 — one intimate scene between Jude and Cardan is briefly but meaningfully on-page before cutting away, still very much YA-restrained. The heat comes overwhelmingly from power play, manipulation, and charged hostility rather than physical content.
Is The Wicked King spicier than Fourth Wing?
The Wicked King (spice 1/5) is milder than Fourth Wing (spice 3/5).
Does The Wicked King have a happy ending?
Yes — The Wicked King delivers an HEA or HFN (happily ever after / happy for now), as romantasy readers expect.
How we rate spice
Every romantasy on The Otherworld is rated 0–5 on one consistent scale: 0 closed door, 1 sweet, 2 mild, 3 steamy, 4 spicy, 5 scorching. The Wicked King sits at 1.